Autonomy report sheds light on size of used EV market
Electric vehicles remain a small slice of the overall used-car market, but the segment has grown in the past decade, especially in recent years, as additional automakers have entered the market.
Specifically, just 0.6% of used-car sales are EVs, according to Autonomy’s debut EV Market Report released Tuesday. And for the largest contingent of pre-owned vehicles — model-year 2018 through 2020 vehicles — EVs have just a 0.4% share of the total number of used cars for sale.
Still, more recent model-years are showing a higher share for EVs, albeit against a smaller sample size, Autonomy’s report shows.
“EV share of overall used cars is 0.6%, but it is highest for the newest model years,” the company said in the report. “The shift has, to some degree, paced along with the increasing availability of EVs per model year, growing from just one model (Nissan LEAF) in model year 2011 to 31 EVs in model year 2022.
“As the number of EVs for sale has increased each model year, it follows that there would be a higher proportion of used EVs available for sale by model year,” Autonomy noted.
EVs have less than a 0.5% share of all 2020 model-year used vehicles for sale. But that share jumps above 1% for 2021 used vehicles and to nearly 3% for 2022 model-year pre-owned vehicles, the data shows.
The 31 used EV models for sale this year is up from 19 in 2021 and 15 in both 2020 and 2019, according to Autonomy.
There are more than 2,500 used EV units for sale from the 2021 model year and over 2,000 from the 2022 model year.
Volumes of used EVs for sale from the 2018, 2019 and 2020 model-years, respectively, are each north of 1,500 units, but less than 2,000 units, the data shows.
It may come as no surprise that Tesla has the greatest share of used EVs at 61.9%, the report shows. Nissan is second at 6.6%, with Chevrolet close behind at 6.4%.
Ford (4.7%), Porsche (3.7%) and Audi (3.6%) are next, while other brands accounted for a 13.1% share of the used EV market.
Of course, that could change in coming years as more models enter the market.
“The EV race is on. While today Tesla is synonymous with electric vehicles, 130 new electric vehicle models will be available by 2026, offered by over 40 different brands,” said Georg Bauer, president and co-founder at Autonomy, in a news release. "It's an exciting time to work in the automotive industry and an even more exciting time to be a consumer."
The used-car data is just part of Autonomy’s report, which also covers EV market share, forecasts, charging infrastructure, EV production, efficiency rankings, cost of ownership, distribution and more.
“We are about to witness a 1,000% increase in EV sales in the U.S. within this decade. The transition from internal combustion engine vehicles to electric vehicles is nothing short of being one of the biggest transformations in not only mobility, but also personal technology,” said Scott Painter, founder and CEO of Autonomy, in a news release.
“As operators of the largest electric vehicle subscription company in the country, our EV Market Report represents our commitment to being students of the EV market and sharing our knowledge with the automotive industry, local, state, and federal government officials, and consumers.”